Prescot Football Club was formed in 1884 and the first organised game of Association Football ever played in Prescot took place against the second team of a local St Helens side, St Thomas. Prescot lost 3-1.After playing friendly games for the first five years, Prescot entered the Liverpool & District League in 1889. Prescot’s highest finishing position in that league was third in 1891-92, the year in which Prescot entered the FA Cup for the first time. A home game against Crewe Alexandra attracted 3,000 spectators to Prescot’s ‘Slacky Brow’ ground, where Prescot were beaten 7-1.
Prescot joined the Lancashire Alliance in 1895 and were champions in 1899-1900. The club finished bottom the following year but joined the higher standard Lancashire League for 1901-02. A ground dispute resulted in Prescot dropping out of the league in 1902-03 and Prescot FC was dormant until 1906 when an athletic and football ground was opened at Hope Street and Prescot Athletic FC, was formed. Prescot Athletic started in the St Helens & District League and won the championship in the first year, after which they joined the Liverpool League for four seasons. The Liverpool County Combination became the Prescot club’s sixth league, in 1911-12.
Leagues were suspended in 1914 for the Great War and the post-war Prescot club dropped ‘Athletic’ from its name and joined the Lancashire Combination Liverpool Section. In their first season, 1918-19, Prescot finished runners-up to Tranmere Rovers but did not fare too well the following season and the club returned to the more locally-based Liverpool County Combination for the 1920-21 season and spent a further seven years in that league.
In 1928, the local expanding cable giants, BICC, donated a magnificent 1,000-seater stand (which was destroyed by fire in 1960) to the club. In what was clearly an early form of commercial sponsorship, the club’s name was changed to Prescot Cables and the team colours became black and amber to commemorate a bit of local industrial history, as the first successful insulated cable drawn at Prescot was covered with black and amber paper. Prescot Cables joined the Lancashire Combination In 1928-29 and, in 1929, applied to join the Football League Third Division (North), along with four other hopefuls. All the applicants failed, although one, Mansfield Town, was successful two years later.
Prescot’s association with the Lancashire Combination lasted for almost 50 years, apart from a brief spell spent in the Cheshire County League in the 1930’s. Prescot’s only league championship was achieved in 1956-57, although they were runners-up in 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1952-53, 1957-58 and 1958-59.
Prescot Cables changed its name to Prescot Town in 1964 but the club struggled and in 1975, it was voted out of the Lancashire Combination. Prescot Town joined the Mid-Cheshire League and won it at the first attempt. In 1978-79 they returned to the Cheshire County League, in Division Two, after an absence of 42 years. Prescot were Division Two champions the following season, with Accrington Stanley as runners-up.
In 1980, the name of Prescot Cables was re-taken and in 1982, Cables became a member of the newly formed North West Counties League where they remained for 20 years. Prescot finished in the top 10 in NWCL Division One in all but one season since 1990 and, in 2001-02, the club had its most successful season for over two decades, winning the Worthington Challenge Trophy (League Cup) and finishing as Division One runners-up, narrowly missing out on promotion to UniBond League Division One. However, Prescot went one better in 2002-03 and finished as champions of NWCL Division One to win promotion to the UniBond League Division One. Ground improvements were carried out at Valerie Park (formerly known as Hope Street) to meet the ground standard and ensure that Prescot could take their place in the higher league.
For the season 2004-05, Prescot found themselves playing at the highest level in their history. Due to a suitable finishing position, and the re-organisation of the football pyramid, Prescot took their place in the Unibond Premier Division. As a result of a team unable to forfill their fixtures, and after the controversial intervention of the FA, Cables were elevated to 5th position in the league. Cables had the opportunity to gain promotion to the Conference North, however, defeat at Workington in the first play-off game ended that dream - for now !
For the season 2005-06, it was a case of consolidation with a new football committee being formed from the Supporters Club. The previous football club, Prescot Cables, was transferred over to another organisation, namely Prescot Football Club Ltd (although trading as Prescot Cables Football Club).The club produced another mid-table finish in the following season to avoid becoming involved in another non-league ‘shake-up’ that saw two Unibond First Divisions being created for the 2007/08 season.
On the final game of the 2007/08 campaign, Prescot was 15 minutes from relegation. Two late goals secured a win at Lincoln United and survival. Due to the tightness of points and goal difference, Cables eventually finished in 13th place ! Shortly after the season’s end, the ground was purchased by Triman Developments Ltd from Mr Mercer’s company (the former Chairman of the club, Prescot Cables AFC). The current football club are working on ground improvements in order to provide the team and supporters with an opportunity to move forward.
A dreadful 2008/09 season saw Prescot propping up the Premier Division. Manager Andy Gray departed for Burscough. He was replaced by Joe Gibiliru who embarked on a fresh start with player personnel. Joe managed to bring some much needed stability to the club as the team finished in mid table. 2010 saw some of Cables regular performers leave for pastures new and several fresh faces arrive.
Gibiliru was relieved of his duties around the time of the big freeze in December 2010 and assistant Dave Ridler took over. He managed to secure Cables Evo-Stik league status for another season.
The 2011-12 season was a tale of five managers. Dave Ridler (who left for Australia in January 2012), Karl Bell, Karl Connolly all took charge for at least one match. Following the controversial departure of Shaun Reid to Warrington Town in March, Joe Gibiliru took over for the remaining games. The team and club re-grouped after the Reid fiasco to finish the season strongly to defy the odds and remain part of the Evo-Stik League.
David Powell was the new man in charge for the 2012-13 season. A virtually new squad assembled with inconsistent performances and results as a consequence. The playing surface and weather conditions forced many postponements. When matches finally began in earnest in the New Year, Cables produced one of their most successful periods since the 2003 North West Counties campaign. A scheme asking donators to sponsor a pitch square in order to afford the much needed renovation the pitch, took on a life of its own. In the end the scheme became over subscribed.
Circumstances arose that led to David Powell leaving the club. In his place for the 2014-15 season came Neil Prince, who at 31, must be the youngest manager in Cables history and probably in the current Evo-Stik League. With limited resources the team managed to secure their Evo-Stik status.

The 2015-16 campaign began disastrously that led to Neil Prince being relieved of his duties. In came Andy Paxton, and with the same playing staff, managed to haul the team out of danger and finish the league season in their highest position for some time. With the club attracting new and increased sponsorship, the fans are looking forward to a less nervous 2016-17.